SEI 2009: Formation of Catholics on unity still ‘severely lacking’

Four panelists reflected on the state of the ecumenical movement during a Summer Ecumenical Institute organized by the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism June 2 – 5 in Saskatoon.

The churches and their leadership need a new conversion to Christian unity, said Rev. Bernard de Margerie, founder of the Prairie Centre. “The journey has become too long, too heavy, and light has dimmed.”

… read the entire article at ecumenism.net/news/
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US Methodist-Catholic Dialogue Explores Eucharist, Environment

[Washington • USCCB] Care for one’s bodily health is linked to care for the body of the Church and for material creation, Methodist Bishop Timothy Whitaker said in a sermon during the second meeting of Round 7 of the Methodist-Catholic Dialogue at St. Paul’s College in Washington, June 15-17.
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Catholic bishops of G8 countries on the July G8 summit

In a letter to leaders participating in the G8 Summit in Italy, July 8-10, the presidents of the Catholic bishops’ conferences of the G8 nations urged Summit leaders to “take concerted actions to protect poor persons and assist developing countries.”

Summary: Bishops note that those who contributed least to current crises may suffer the most; Urge G8 not to cut international aid for poor countries as result of economic crisis; Ask G8 leaders to combat climate change and protect the most vulnerable people.
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Voici le numéro de fin de printemps d’Ensemble. Le Conseil Canadien des Églises a été particulièrement occupé au cours des derniers mois. Son Conseil de direction s’est élu de nouveaux membres. Nous avons écrit un bon nombre de lettres au gouvernement fédéral sur des questions relatives à la confidentialité génétique, la guerre civile au Sri Lanka, la traite des personnes et les soins de santé au Canada. Nous nous sommes joints à Twitter, vous vous êtes joints à nous. Nous avons préparé L’impératif divin de la défense des droits, un recueil de réflexions sur la place de la religion dans l’espace public. Nous nous sommes également rendus à Winnipeg et à Ottawa, deux villes animées d’un esprit œcuménique palpable.
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Welcome to a late spring edition of Together. These past few months have been especially busy around The Canadian Council of Churches. The Governing Board elected a new executive. Quite a few letters have been sent to the federal government on issues relating to genetic privacy, the civil war in Sri Lanka, human trafficking, and heath care in Canada. We joined Twitter, and you joined us. The Gospel Imperative to Advocacy, a collection of reflections on faith and its relationship to the public square. We also visited Winnipeg and Ottawa – two cities filled with a palpable ecumenical spirit.
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The Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Korea (PCK) has told members of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) that he believes churches should be motivated to engage in a movement for “ecumenical tithing”. Referring to the Christian tradition of church members giving ten percent of their earnings to the church, Sam Hwan Kim
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Marchons ensemble : Documentation 2009 sur la justice raciale

Une nouvelle ressource conçue par le Réseau œcuménique canadien contre le racisme pour aider les Canadiens à engager le dialogue avec la Commission Vérité et réconciliation sur les pensionnats autochtones et à mieux comprendre l’héritage de colonisation avec lequel les peuples autochtones vivent aujourd’hui.
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Let Us Walk Together: Racial Justice Resource 2009

A new resource from the Canadian Ecumenical Anti-Racism Network (CEARN) designed to help Canadians to engage with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Indian Residential Schools and to better understand the legacies of colonization that Aboriginal peoples live with today.
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A history of the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism (PCE), a book entitled God’s Reconciling Grace, is a story of ecumenism over 25 years.

The editorial committee consists of Vern Ratzlaff, Ursula Wigg, Carol Pek, and Colin Clay with contributions from Fr. Bernard de Margerie and a cast of thousands, says Rev. Jan Bigland-Pritchard, director of the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism.

“The book is filled with stories of ecumenical co-operation in Saskatchewan, focusing on the Prairie Centre, but not exclusively,” she says.

God’s Reconciling Grace ($10) will be launched at a banquet on June 4 that is part of the Summer Ecumenical Institute, a conference being held from June 2-5 at Queen’s House of Retreats.
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Governing Board of Officers of the Canadian Council of Churches met recently at Saint Paul University. The acceptance of the new Denominational Member of the Canadian Council of Churches – the Ukrainian Catholic Church of Canada – was moved by Archbishop Yurij of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and seconded by Bishop Ron Fabbro of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. It was adopted unanimously in accordance with the CCC Constitution.
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À Ottawa, dans le contexte d’échanges avec les leaders parlementaires du Canada sur des questions urgentes de justice et de développement pour tous, le Conseil canadien des Églises vient d’élire sa nouvelle Administration pour le triennat 2009-2012.

Les nouveaux administrateurs élus reflètent la grande diversité du Conseil canadien des Églises, qui représente 85 % des chrétiens du Canada : à la présidence, le Très Révérend Bruce Adema, de l’Église réformée chrétienne; à la vice-présidence, le Major Gillian Brown, de l’Armée du Salut, Mgr Gilles Cazabon, de la Conférence des évêques catholiques du Canada et le Père John Jillions, de l’Église orthodoxe d’Amérique; à la trésorerie, Don Taylor, de l’Église presbytérienne du Canada.

Texte intégral …
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In Ottawa, in the context of conversations with the parliamentary leaders of Canada on pressing issues of justice and development for all people, the Canadian Council of Churches elected a new Executive for 2009-2012.

The newly elected Officers come from the wide diversity of the Canadian Council of Churches which represents 85% of the Christians in Canada. As President, The Rev. Bruce Adema of the Christian Reformed Church. As Vice Presidents, Major Gillian Brown of the Salvation Army, Bishop Gilles Cazabon of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and Father John Jillions of the Orthodox Church in America. As Treasurer, Don Taylor of the Presbyterian Church in Canada.

read further …
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The hope that all Christians will be able to celebrate Easter on the same day in the future was reaffirmed by an international ecumenical seminar organized by the Institute of Ecumenical Studies at the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv, 15 May.

read the full story …
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Senior Church Leaders Congregate in Ottawa
The Canadian Council of Churches holds its May Governing Board meeting in the Capital

From May 11 to 15, 2009 The Canadian Council of Churches is engaging the Government of Canada through several high profile events. Outgoing President, The Rev. Dr. James Christie, said “Through this Churches’ Week in Ottawa The Canadian Council of Churches is strengthening the presence of churches in public life, drawing on a long tradition of engagement in the public square, and contributing to the public dialogue today on matters, which affect all people in Canada and the world.”
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Ecumenical News International and Washington-based Religion News Service (RNS) have launched a shared-content agreement to distribute selected stories from each others’ newswires.

… see more
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Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev, an Oxford-educated cleric who served as the Moscow Patriarchate’s representative to European organizations in Brussels, has been appointed as head of the Russian Orthodox Church’s Department of External Church Relations.

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An international expert on church unity has urged the Roman Catholic Church to declare officially that its excommunication of Martin Luther no longer applies.

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Pope Benedict XVI has acknowledged “mistakes” in the way the Vatican lifted the excommunication of four bishops from a breakaway Catholic group, including a prelate who had denied that Jews died in Nazi gas chambers. In a letter issued on 12 March to Roman Catholic bishops around the world, the Pope described as an “unforeseen mishap” the case of British-born Richard Williamson, one of the four bishops belonging to the Society of St Pius X (SSPX).

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Normally we don’t post material on our site that is not in English or French. However, this talk given by Cardinal Walter Kasper was published today in L’Osservatore Romano, and is not yet available in a language other than Italian. A very rough translation can be produced using Google’s translation tool.
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Made public yesterday afternoon was the final declaration of the annual meeting of the Joint Committee for Dialogue of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue (Vatican) and the Permanent Committee of al-Azhar for Dialogue among the Monotheistic Religions (Cairo, Egypt). The meeting was held in Rome on 24 and 25 February.

… read more
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The head of the Vatican’s education office has described the religious education curriculum introduced by the government of Quebec as bordering on “anti-Catholic”.

Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, the Prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education, stepped into the row over religious education, which has divided the Canadian province, when he criticised the Ethics and Religious Culture programme. It was implemented last September and has replaced all other RE curricula in the province’s state schools and Protestant and Catholic schools.

Eighty-two per cent of Quebec’s 7.5 million population are at least nominally Catholic, and boycotts of the course are occurring throughout the province. Cardinal Grocholewski said: “Talking in the same way about all religions is almost like an anti-Catholic education, because this creates a certain relativism.” He said this approach could ultimately be anti-religious, since young people are left with the impression that each faith is a fictional narrative. Speaking to the Zenit news agency in Rome, he also said that teaching all religions equally “violates the right of parents to educate their own children according to their own religion”.

Some Quebec schools have suspended pupils who take part in the boycotts. Loyola High School, a private Jesuit school in Montreal, is suing the province after its request that it be exempted from teaching the programme because it was “contrary to its faith mission” was denied.

• Read the complete news article in The Tablet, February 28, 2009
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The Vatican’s new YouTube channel has posted the following short video about a dialogue this past week between the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue (PCID) and a Muslim partner, the Permanent Committee of Al-Azhar for the Dialogue with Monotheistic Religions.

Watch it here
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The Prairie Centre for Ecumenism is sponsoring an ecumenical Lenten study of reforms that shape the Christian church of the 21st century. Nick Jesson, one of the presenters, describes the series as “a forward look so we can understand where the church came from and how we are building it for the future.” The study
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In a pastoral letter to the faithful in his diocese, Roman Catholic Bishop Luc Bouchard of St. Paul in Alberta, Canada decried that “the integrity of creation in the Athabasca Oil Sands” – the largest reservoir of crude bitumen in the world and the largest of three major oil sands deposits in Alberta – “is clearly being sacrificed for economic gain.”

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An Ecumenical Lenten Study of five reforms that will shape the church of the 21st Century. Join Sandra Beardsall and Nick Jesson as we examine the bricks and mortar of Christ’s church and plan for the years ahead. This is a community-build, everyone has a part in building the house of God.

Topics include:

Mar. 2 @ 6:45 pm • Checking the Blueprints — Listening Anew to the Word of God in Scripture;
Mar. 9 @ 6:45 pm • Firming Up the Foundation — Rethinking the nature and mission of the church;
Mar. 16 @ 6:45 pm • Moving the Walls — Reimagining the life of worship;
Mar. 23 @ 6:45 pm • Barn-Raising Together — Searching for Christian unity; and
Mar. 30 @ 6:45 pm • Meeting the Neighbours — Inter-religious relations.

Five Monday evenings beginning March 2 at St. James’ Anglican Church, Saskatoon (corner of Dufferin & 12th Street)
Sessions begin at 6:45 pm. No registration required.
Each evening will include prayer, fellowship, an introduction to the theme, and group discussion.
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Alors que le système financier mondial vacille, de nombreux militants de la société civile et des Eglises voient la crise actuelle comme une chance pour pousser à la mise en œuvre de réformes radicales depuis longtemps nécessaires. Ils pourront s’atteler à cette tâche dès début avril, lors d’une réunion du G20 à Londres.

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As the global financial system falters, many civil society and church activists see the crisis as an opportunity to press for long-overdue, radical reforms. The first opportunity for them to do so will come in early April, when the G20 will meet in London.

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Le métropolite Kirill de Smolensk et Kaliningrad, qui a été intronisé à Moscou 16e patriarche de l’histoire de l’Eglise orthodoxe russe sous le nom de Kirill Ier, a souligné qu’il est de son devoir d’assurer l’unité au sein de l’Eglise afin de préserver la foi. Cependant, certains observateurs considèrent qu’il a davantage les qualités d’un “leader politique” que son prédécesseur.
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The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has awarded the Cross of St Augustine to Monsignor Donald Bolen for his service to Anglican-Roman Catholic relations. In a private audience at Lambeth Palace the Archbishop paid warm tribute to the theological acumen and spiritual discernment that Monsignor Bolen had put unreservedly at the service of Anglican-Roman Catholic relations during his seven-year assignment to the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity in Rome.

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It came during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and on the eve of the fiftieth anniversary of Pope John XXIII’s announcement of the Second Vatican Council – news that Pope Benedict had decreed that the “Lefebvrists”, the four bishops excommunicated for disobedience and who have never fully accepted the Council, could return to the Church.

The Pope instructed the Congregation for Bishops to “remit” the excommunications of four leaders of the schismatic Society of St Pius X (SSPX) otherwise known as Lefebvrists. The four men — Bernard Fellay, Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, Richard Williamson and Alfonso del Gallareta — incurred automatic (latae sententiae) excommunication in June 1988 when they were illicitly ordained bishops by renegade Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre (d. 1991), who founded the SSPX in 1970 and the Seminary of Ecône in south-west Switzerland.
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C’est le métropolite Kirill de Smolensk et Kaliningrad qui a été élu à la tête du Patriarcat de Moscou de l’Eglise orthodoxe russe, par une victoire écrasante. Le métropolite Kirill occupait déjà par intérim la fonction laissée vacante par le patriarche Alexis II, décédé en décembre 2008.
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Pope on Shoah: Never again may violence humiliate the dignity of man!

In his weekly audience Pope Benedict categorically condemned all attempts to deny the Holocaust and explained the reasons for the lifting of the excommunication of four bishops from the fraternity of St. Pius X. … Pope Benedict’s thoughts then turned to the Shoah, the memorial of which was celebrated this week. He said “the memories and images of my many visits to Auschwitz come back to me in these days, a death camp in which blind racial and religious hatred led to the ferocious extermination of millions of Jews and other innocent victims”.
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In a letter congratulating Metropolitan Kyrill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad on his election as the new patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia expressed the appreciation of the worldwide ecumenical fellowship for this “outstanding Orthodox theologian, leader and hierarch.”
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Pope Benedict XVI says he has “full and unquestionable solidarity” with Jewish people and he has warned against any form of Holocaust denial. The Pope’s statement comes after outrage at his recent reinstatement of an excommunicated bishop, who has said the genocide of Jews in gas chambers never took place.
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Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad has been elected as the new head of the Moscow Patriarchate in the Orthodox Church after serving a period as interim leader and following an election in which he got an overwhelming majority of votes.
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The delegates to the Church Council meeting underway in Moscow have elected Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad the 16th Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia.
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Pope Benedict XVI has lifted the excommunication of four bishops ordained against papal orders in 1988 by the late Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. The move was considered a major concession to the archbishop’s traditionalist followers. The Vatican said the decree removing the excommunication, signed Jan. 21 and made public three days later, marked an important step toward full communion with the Society of St. Pius X, founded by Archbishop Lefebvre in 1970.

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When Lynne Smith was a girl growing up in El Paso, Texas, she said she wanted to be a nun.

And so Smith followed the more conventional path … to ordained Presbyterian ministry and a first pastorate in Dodge City, Kan. But the yearning for a more contemplative spiritual life was never far from her mind.

While in Dodge City, Smith went on a spiritual retreat in 1985 sponsored by the Sisters of St. Joseph, “and had a deeper experience than I’d ever had before,” she told the Presbyterian News Service in a recent interview here. “It really changed my spirituality toward the contemplative.”
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That they may become one in God’s hand

Inspired by the witness of churches from a divided country, Christians throughout the world will be praying “that they may become one in God’s hand” during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2009.

continued …
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Pope Benedict XVI and the general secretary of the World Council of Churches, the Rev. Samuel Kobia, have condemned violence in Gaza, calling for its immediate cessation following an intense bombing campaign by Israel there.

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The Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Ecumenical Relations (IASCER) held its last meeting in Kyoto, Japan, under the chairmanship of the Most Revd Drexel Gomez, Primate of the Church in the Province of the West Indies. The Commission is charged with reviewing current international ecumenical dialogues involving Anglicans, and provincial and regional initiatives towards unity with other Christians. IASCER consists of representatives from each international dialogue involving Anglicans, including the multilateral dialogue of Faith and Order, and of certain other commissions and networks, and consultants who bring particular regional or theological expertise.
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New Vatican Instruction on Bioethics

A new document entitled Dignitatis Personae was released by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on Friday morning. The document on “certain questions of bioethics” is intended to update the current teaching on moral issues arising from in-vitro fertilization, stem cell technology, cloning, and other embryonic research. The last comprehensive CDF Instruction on these issues was published February 22, 1987 with the title Donum Vitae.

• The document is available on the CCCB website.
• A summary of the document was released to reporters at the morning news conference. It is available on the Vatican Information Service website.
• An excellent explanation of the document and its history is available from John L. Allen Jr. at the National Catholic Reporter.
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The Rev. Michael Hawkins was elected as bishop of the Anglican diocese of Saskatchewan on Saturday. The election was held at St. Alban’s Cathedral in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, the seat of the diocese. The bishop-elect has been rector of St. Alban’s since 2001, and also serves as Dean of Saskatchewan. Rev. Hawkins was elected to succeed Bishop Anthony Burton who took up parish ministry in Dallas last September. The diocese has announced that March 6th has been set as the date for the consecration of their new bishop.
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Michael Hawkins was elected as the next bishop of the diocese of Saskatchewan on Dec. 6 at a synod held at St. Alban’s Cathedral in Prince Albert. Mr. Hawkins, who has served as the rector St. Alban’s Cathedral and as dean of Saskatchewan since 2001, was voted in by a decisive margin in both clergy and lay houses on the first ballot.
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Patriarch Alexei II of the Russian Orthodox Church has died at his residence in Peredelkino, 40 kilometres from central Moscow, the church’s Moscow Patriarchate has announced.

No cause was given for the death on 5 December of the 79-year-old patriarch.

The previous evening Alexei held a church service in one of Moscow’s central cathedrals to mark a major religious holiday, the RIA-Novosti news agency reported. It said the church’s ruling body, the Holy Synod, was to gather for an urgent meeting in Moscow on 6 December following the death of its leader.
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Le responsable orthodoxe arménien basé au Liban Aram Ier a, lors d’une rencontre avec le pape Benoît XVI, proposé que les Eglises du monde entier fixent une date commune pour Pâques, fête lors de laquelle les chrétiens célèbrent la résurrection de Jésus.
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Lebanon-based Armenian Orthodox leader Aram I has at a Vatican meeting with Pope Benedict XVI proposed that the world’s churches set a common date for Easter, when Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.
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Help us record the history of ecumenism in our community!

You are invited to share your stories about local ecumenical events or activities that have improved relationships between Christians in Saskatchewan over the years.

Stories will be collected and included in an anniversary history book being prepared by The Prairie Centre for Ecumenism to mark its 25th anniversary in 2009. Please take some time to write up an event or activity, past or present, which brought you closer to other Christians in your area. Photographs are also welcome.

Send submissions to:
The Prairie Centre for Ecumenism,
600 – 45 St. West, Saskatoon, SK. S7L 5W9
E-mail: pce [at] ecumenism [dot] net

We look forward to hearing from you!
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The growth in ecumenical relations has great promise for the proclamation of the Gospel in our time, says Benedict XVI.

The Pope affirmed this today when he presided at an ecumenical celebration with Aram I, Catholicos of Cilicia of the Armenians. A delegation from the Catholicosate also participated in the event.
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Les deux plus grandes Eglises d’Allemagne voient leur nombre de fidèles diminuer, mais le nombre de membres de l’Eglise évangélique d’Allemagne (EKD), principale organisation protestante du pays, a chuté sous la barre des 25 millions pour la première fois depuis la réunification de l’Allemagne, en 1990.

Fin 2007, les membres de l’EKD étaient 24,83 millions, sur 82 millions de personnes vivant en Allemagne, a indiqué l’agence de presse protestante allemande epd le 17 novembre. Aujourd’hui, l’EKD a perdu plus d’un million de membres par rapport à il y a cinq ans.
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